I hate Brian Michael Bendis. I do. And the reason I hate him is that he makes it so hard to hate him when he makes a comic that drives me this bonkers, but it does it so well. Last issue, the creature that Curt Conners was creating using Spider-Man’s DNA went on a tear, slaughtering innocent people in a grotesque, vampiric fashion, and finally striking close to someone Peter loves.

This issue is almost entirely aftermath – Peter and the other characters finding out what has happened, the requisite police investigation scene, the required slow, silent pondering of the universe, the obligatory heart-to-heart among those struck by the tragedy. Nothing terribly groundbreaking. But it is all done so well. Without ever really breaking far from the formula, Bendis shows a whole range of emotions – grief, rage, guilt, and he does it all perfectly in character. We get some more details in this issue as well, as Peter learns the truth about the creature that’s causing all of this sorrow… and the truth has a little tweak that I haven’t heard anyone theorize.

Mark Bagley, as good an artist as he always is, gets bonus points for handling such a delicate issue. If anyone ever doubts his incredible talent as an artist, they need only look at the single, wordless page in this issue where Peter rips open his bag, revealing his costume, tears appearing heavy in his eyes. Sometimes I criticize Bendis for being over-wordy, but he reminds us here that sometimes he knows when to step back and allow the art to tell the story all by itself.

Again, I’m still furious over the direction this storyline has taken… but that’s okay. In fact, that’s really a good thing. The fact that I can get furious over a storyline like this is a solid reminder of how well-done this comic book is, and a testament to the creative team and this issue in particular. Love it or hate it, this is as good as Ultimate Spider-Man has ever been, and that’s saying a lot.